red alage infestation

[bscpaint]

I recently got back to my tank after not being around for a few days and there is red slime algae everywhere!!! There is air bubbles trapped under it and I have no idea what happened. The only change that I have done to the tank was add a Sun coral about a week ago? How do I get rid of this before it starts killing corals!!!!

 

[Nandez13]

Google cyanobacteria and see if it resembles that. Fairly common in new tanks

 

[bscpaint]

Yes it looks exactly like that, the physical tank has been up and running for a little while now but all the water, filtration, sand and live rock where from a well established tank that was running for years

 

[bscpaint]

But the bigger question is how do I get rid of it

 

[Nandez13]

There is always some die off when transplanting rock/sand from another tank. Did you transport these in heated water to your house?

Unfortunately, there is no quick cure for it. What many people have had success with is bacteria dosing with products like Special Blend. This may still take a few weeks. In the meantime, I'd manually remove as much as you can so it doesn't cover the corals. I also wouldn't add more livestock until you stop seeing it. Increasing the flow and reducing lighting period may help

 

[bscpaint]

Yes water was heated and had a powerhead in a 55 gallon drum on the way home. But that was a few months ago. I havent added any livestock except for a Sun coral in the past few weeks.

 

[44santababy]

simple fix "chemi-clean" cleaned my biocube that was covered in red slime in TWO days. Stuff works...

 

[jnelson]

Short-term - Use Chemi-Clean. Make sure you follow it to the letter though (correct dosage, use an air stone, and water change about 2-3 days once the cyanobacteria is gone).


Long-term - Keep an eye on your nutrient levels and water flow, and also make sure you don't introduce it to your system again via live rock, frags, or other sources.

 

[Clink51]

i agree with the chemi clean, i did it for my tank. dont forget to use airstones and turn off your skimmer because it will go bananas. also, use ALOT of airstones so you get everything. In my 29, i daisy chained 3 airstones. maybe it was over kill, but i'd rather overkill then not enough